


Sword Art Online III: Asgard

by Shanejayell



Category: Sword Art Online
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-11 22:24:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7072930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shanejayell/pseuds/Shanejayell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Cardinal System updates ALO with a new realm: Asgard!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Sword Art Online, I'm only borrowing them for awhile. Don't sue me, I'm really really broke. This divergence takes into account events up until Mother's Rosario, and ignores Alicization as it hasn't got a North American release. 

Sword Art Online III: Asgard  
Introduction

Alfheim Online was a unusual, and in some ways dangerously flawed creation.

Created by RECT Progress Inc under the direction of Sugou Nobuyuki, Alfheim Online was supposed to be a MMORPG, in which characters attempted to reach the top of the World Tree to meet the Fairy King Oberon and be transformed into ALFs, with the power of unlimited flight. However that was a lie, and the top of the World Tree was in fact a lab where Sugou experimented on captives taken from Sword Art Online. 

(The World Tree stirs. Where once it merely stood, branches swaying slightly in simulated breeze, it begins to grow. Fed by the waters once denied to it in Jotunheimr, it reaches up, straining.)

After Sugou's criminal activities were discovered the game development elements of RECT went out of business, and the ALO servers and game were bought up by a group of ALO players and investors. They successfully restarted the game as well as attempted to 'patch' it to fix the flaws introduced by Sugou, including his lab. They erased the lab and replaced it with Yggdrasil City, as well as introducing other changes.

(The floating castle of Aincrad circles the World Tree. Once part of Sword Art Online, it was restored by Ymir, the company now running ALO. If you stood at the edge of one of Aincrad's floors and looked up at the Tree, you would have seen the glowing lights of Alne at the base of the Tree, and Yggdrasil at the top.)

After Sugou's defeat, the basic game engine of SAO and ALO was released to the internet. With the built in editor and a computer with enough processing power, a creator could build from scratch any virtual world they wanted. Soon hundreds of new game worlds cropped up, all running on the same program. But the system that ran those games was subtly different that that of SAO and ALO.

(Those in Yggdrasil felt something odd, but couldn't quite explain it. Agil paused in bargaining with a customer as he felt the floor shiver slightly, then looked around curiously. In another part of the city Lizbeth finished hammering a new blade, nodding in satisfaction. As she hung it on the wall, she too felt... something off, but couldn't say what it was.)

SAO was governed by a powerful, self monitoring system called Cardinal. That same system was copied over to run ALO, but unlike in SAO it was implemented improperly. Cardinal, in ALO, was now creating new quests on it's own, building NPCs and in one case, very nearly wiped out the game itself. Only the heroic actions of Kirito and others successfully completed a quest and prevented Ragnarok. 

(Above Yggdrasil, in the upper branches of the World Tree, a light began to shine. As the branches reached up and enfolded it the light grew brighter, as the Tree formed a sturdy base for what was forming. Out of the light a mighty island descended, as the world looked on in awe.)

The Cardinal system had introduced the latest addition to ALO. 

ASGARD was here.... 

To be continued....

Notes: Trying to explain why a new section of the game could just appear out of nowhere. Concepts from Asgard have already appeared in game during the Calibur story, so it's not unprecedented. Because ALO has not consistently adapted Norse mythology, I too will likely adapt concepts loosely in this story.


	2. Chapter 2

Sword Art Online III: Asgard  
One

Word spread fast through the gaming community. ALO was a popular game, with lots of players, and everyone who witnessed the new section opening called their friends. Those friends also spread the word, as well as posting on online bulletin boards and so on, and soon everyone had at least heard about it. 

Kazuto Kirigaya (often known as Kirito) hurried down the hall towards the school cafeteria, bento in hand. However he wasn't much concerned with lunch, instead he was headed to a informal meeting of several friends who were also players of ALO. 

Rika Shinozaki (Lisbeth) looked up with a cheery smile, the brown haired cute girl sipping her drink. “We're still waiting on Asuna,” she told him.

Keiko Ayano (Silica) smiled up at him shyly, “Hello, Kazuto. Were you online when the new section opened?” 

“No,” Kazuto sighed, “Had homework. The forum posts about it alerted me...”

“It was pretty spectacular,” Rika said. “It was like the sky opened up, then the island appeared and settled down atop the World Tree,” she said eagerly.

“Hmm,” Kazuto nodded, “I looked it up. That's sort of the Marvel Comics version of Asgard. Wonder if that will reflect on how that section plays?”

Both Rika and Keiko were giving him a odd look.

“What?” Kazuto asked.

“Do you have no poetry in your soul?” Rika had to ask. “I was describing a gloriously designed sequence and all you're concerned about is game-play mechanics?”

“Well, that's Kirito for you,” Keiko said dryly.

Before he could try to defend himself Asuka Yuuki hurried in, the brown haired young woman smiling impishly. “You KNOW he has no soul, just a game CPU,” she teased.

“Gee, thanks,” Kazuto sighed.

Rika and Keiko giggled as Asuna settled down beside Kazuto. “I struck out on getting inside info, but Agil is shaking down contacts he has at Ymir. He said he'd mail us once he hears something,” she told them.

“Thanks,” Kazuto smiled at her, his eyes going more tender than usual.

“Do NOT get lovey dovey at school, please,” Rika rolled her eyes.

Both jerked apart a bit, looking sheepish. 

“So how do you get into the Asgard region?” Keiko asked curiously.

“There's a new dungeon level that is a stairway that connects Yggdrasil to Asgard,” Asuna revealed, “and it looks to be very, very tough.”

“Oh?” Kazuto asked. He liked tough dungeons, generally speaking. At least when it wasn't actual life or death stakes anyway.

“Yeah, a group of mid-level players rushed in, hoping to get the jump on exploring the dungeon and getting any new items there,” Rika nodded, “two rooms in, they hit something called Rock Trolls. High armor, high hit points.”

“The whole party got wiped out, though some of that was they rushed in without preparing,” Asuna pointed out.

“Not enough magic restoration and healing potions,” Keiko nodded wisely, despite being the youngest one there. On the other hand she too was a veteran of SAO, and that tended to make you grow up a lot very quickly.

“It's been half a day,” Kazuto noted, thinking of several aggressive players he knew in ALO, “someone has to have made some progress....”

“Not a lot,” Rika shook her head, “people are sharing into, but they haven't even mapped the first floor yet, and I can bet you there's more than a couple of floors.”

Everyone looked thoughtful at that. This resembled the dungeons that connected floors on Aincrad, and you needed to fight up several levels before reaching a Boss room. You won there, the doors opened to the next floor.

“Do you think there will be a floor boss?” Keiko asked what everyone was wondering about. And worrying over too.

“There's almost always a boss monster at the end of quests in both Aincrad and Alfheim, so yeah I think we can bet on it,” Asuna nodded. 

“So,” Rika looked at Kazuto, “when are we going to go take this dungeon on?”

“What makes you think I want us to do that?” Kazuto tried to sound like he really didn't care about it at all.

EVERYONE just gave him a look.

“Okay, yes,” Kazuto conceded, “I'd like to at least try. Why don't we try to get together one or even two parties, and see if we can go this weekend?”

“Start Friday night and see how far we can get by Sunday?” Asuna asked, having developed a good idea for how Kazuto's mind worked. 

“And that gives us a few more days to do research too,” Rika nodded. “There was no announcement at all from Ymir that this Asgard module was coming, and they're usually pretty good about doing that.”

“It is odd,” Kazuto agreed, “maybe Agil can find out what's happening.” Before anyone else could say anything the warning bell rang, and they broke up to head back to classes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Several weeks earlier....

Logging in to ALfheim Online and creating a character had all been pretty simple, really. Her difficulties had more been in acquiring a Amu-sphere without anyone knowing (she had a reputation to maintain after all) and finding the time to actually play it. 

Her employer was a little surprised she asked to reduce her work load a bit, but even he acknowledged she had been working exceptionally hard. (Which caused a pang of guilt, tho she didn't show it. Guilty over leaving her work, but also guilt over how badly she had let work outweigh everything else in her life.) 

Her office, thankfully, was private and had a door that could be locked. She set up the amu-sphere connections there, and the room got remarkably good internet connection. With some nervousness she had reclined in her leather chair, put the headset on and vocalized “Link start!”

Youko looked around her, taking in the vivid scenery as the redhead stood beneath the trees. Alfheim was certainly a vivid place, just like she remembered from her first log in. The red armored Salamander gestured to make the flight controller to appear, then took to the skies.

So far, Youko had stuck to areas near the capital of their territory, Gattan. She was still getting used to her long sword and round shield, and the monsters around the city were fairly low level. But she had progressed far enough to face tougher monsters. Besides, she had to meet her senpai at Alne....

On the way across the deserts in the Salamander territory she had a few monster encounters, all of which dropped money and in one case a item, and without much trouble she made it to the city, dropping down to the gate as she saw a familiar figure.

“Klein-san!” she called, smiling.

“Hey, Youko-san! Have you decided to marry me yet?” the young man teased.

“Not in a million years,” she winked, clouting him on the shoulder.

Klein laughed, “So cruel. So, are you ready to master flight without the controller? You'd have a easier time in aerial fighting.”

Youko put her hands on her hips. “You are going to insist I learn it, aren't you senpai?” she asked, sighing. 

Klein scratched his head, “Well, I know a couple of players who manage with the controller, but it really is much harder to play.” He shrugged, “And really, don't you want to feel what it's like to fly free?” He blinked as the oddest look crossed her face. 'Did I say something wrong?' he wondered.

“Always,” she murmured. Youko shook herself and smiled, “Teach me, senpai.”

“Alright!” Klein grinned. “Okay, extend your wings. Not try to imagine virtual muscles connecting to your wings.” He watched the wings quiver and nodded, impressed by how fast she was getting it. “Now focus harder, harder...”

With that he pushed her, HARD. “Aeeiii!” Youko screamed as she was launched skyward by the power of her buzzing wings. 

“Way to go!” Klein cheered.

“HOW DO I STOOOOP,” Youko wailed.

With a laugh Klein took off to intercept her, and soon had her flying under some degree of control. “See, nothing to it,” he congratulated her.

“You will pay for that later,” Youko vowed, but was clearly enjoying flying.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

“Good afternoon, Kazuto-kun,” Kathy smiled as he entered the Dicey Cafe.

“Hello, Kathy,” Kazuto waved back a bit nervously. He liked her, but he got the sense she kind of resented the SAO players who were constantly hanging around her husband.

“Andrew went out for a errand, but he'll be back soon,” Kathy reassured him. 

“Thanks,” Kazuto said. He ordered a soda, paid, then waited at a table, opening his laptop and doing some homework while he waited.

Not long after Andrew Mills (Agil) hurried in, carrying a grocery bag. “Hey Kazuto. Let me just drop these off,” he said.

“Thank you, dear,” Kathy smiled, taking the bags and going in the back.

“Thanks for seeing me,” Kazuto smiled slightly. Somewhat more seriously he asked, “Did anyone at Ymir get back to you on this Asgard thing?”

“Apparently they didn't introduce the Asgard module, the system did,” Andrew said grimly.

“What.” Kazuto blinked.

“The programers were developing the Asgard module, but were only part done,” Andrew revealed, “somehow, it added itself in.”

It took Kazuko only a moment to get it, “The Cardinal System.”

“Yeah. Apparently it decided the programers were taking too long and added the module itself. And apparently completed it,” Andrew added.

“And who knows what elements Cardinal stuck in on it's own?” Kazuto wondered aloud, shaking his head. The last time Cardinal had gotten 'creative' it had introduced a quest that, if they failed, would have triggered Ragnarok and ended AOL. “We need to get into that section fast, before something bad happens,” Kazuto noted.

“One other thing,” Andrew added, “The developers at Ymir noted that the Cardinal system also accessed a LOT of data from the old SAO server when it set Asgard up. Could be we'll be facing a greatest hits of SAO villains in Asgard.”

“Even better...” Kazuto sighed.

To be continued....

Notes: Youko is NOT a original character, she's a existing character from the series who's chosing to game for the first time. I THINK I dropped enough hints that it's pretty obvious who she is, but if not I'll reveal it in a few chapters.


	3. Chapter 3

Sword Art Online III: Asgard  
Two

Suguha Kirigaya was very, very glad it was Friday. The black haired young woman was, of course, looking forward to it being the weekend, AND she and her friends were getting ready to do a long campaign in Alfheim Online. Her school bag and practice sword thumped against her back as she hurried off.

As she left the campus Suguha felt a faint pang as she knew they would be going out without Recon. Her friend and classmate had joined ALO with her, but he'd never quite mastered the game. Not long after they had helped Kirito rescue Asuna, she had flat out told him that she wasn't interested in him romantically.

Not long after he had started showing up less, and ultimately stopped playing ALO. He had, amusingly, switched to Gun Gale Online, and they had ended up discussing Kirito's adventures over in that game too. At least, from what she could tell, he seemed happier over there. He had really never enjoyed flying in ALO....

Suguha shook her head. Despite her being clear about her feelings, he had decided to chase her, and he had decided to leave once they 'broke up.' It wasn't her fault, she reminded herself firmly.

“I'm home!” she called out as Suguha went inside their house. Mom was probably still at work at the tech magazine, but her brother should have got there already.

“Welcome back,” the familiar voice called from the kitchen.

Suguha dropped her stuff off in her room then walked into the kitchen where she saw Kazuto making up some sandwiches for them. It was very house-wify of him, and she was tempted to joke but restrained herself.

“How was school?” Suguha asked as she got a drink carton from the fridge. 

“Not bad.” Kazuto admitted. “Not too much homework this weekend, thankfully.”

“We'll get together at your and Asuna's house if we need to do a study group,” Suguha noted, glad she only felt a slight twinge at that. She was, gradually, accepting that she had lost to Asuna over her brother... well, sort of accepting She still got jealous, but... 

“Right,” Kazuto sighed.

Suguha giggled as she reminded him, “If you want to be a programmer and Full Dive expert, you're going to have to study, too.”

“I know, I know,” Kazuto nodded. Changing the subject he said, “We're going to go meet up at the usual inn in Yggdrasil City, get organized there.” 

“I talked to my friend Lux, she'd like to join us,” Suguha said, referring to a friend she, Silica and Lisbeth adventured with. 

“Yeah,” Kazuto said, “and Klein said he had a player he was working with who might want to go along.” He looked thoughtful, “Depending on how many players actually show up, we might break into two parties.”

“Might be a good idea to have the extra people,” Suguha agreed, “I heard two high experience parties tried it and got beat too.”

“Eugene?” Kazuto wondered, naming the second in command of the Salamanders and, arguably, the strongest player in ALO.

“Not yet. I've heard he wants to organize a full on expedition,” Suguha nodded.

“Hopefully we can get in there before they do...,” Kazuto mused thoughtfully.

“You just want any exclusive gear that comes up,” Suguha teased him, remembering how he had reacted to discovering Excalibur's location.

“Heh,” Kazuto looked sheepish.

They ate, then hurried up to their rooms. Suguha stripped down to bra and panties, then lay back on her bed and put the Amu-sphere on. (Some people dove nude, finding clothes too restrictive. Personally, Suguha was more worried about something going wrong in real life... or worse someone walking in on her.) 

“Link Start!” Suguha declared.

Leafa smiled as she took a breath of air, the green clad blonde smiling cheerfully. Beside her Kirito had appeared, and he called out, “Hey, Yui!”

Out of the air the little black haired sprite appeared, cheerily exclaiming, “Papa! You're back!”

Leafa watched with amusement as the little sprite settled on Kirito's head. They caught up, talking cheerfully, even as Leafa looked up at the new island floating up above the city. 

“Hey, Kirito?” Leafa asked thoughtfully.

“Yeah?” Kirito asked.

“Has anyone actually tried just flying up there?” Leafa mused aloud. She smiled, “Hold on, I want to test this....”

With that Leafa took off, her wings shimmering in the afternoon light. She LOVED flying. If there was no other reason to play ALO, she would still come just for the chance to soar across the skies. And it was even better now that they no longer had the same limits on flight.

Leafa soared up to the island of Asgard... only to see it pull away from her, somehow. “Huh?” Leafa blinked, then poured on the speed. She was one of the fastest fliers in the game... she could leave any other player in the dust... but SOMEHOW the island stayed just out of reach. Then when Leafa stopped chasing it the island sprung back to appearing relatively near. It was deeply frustrating! With a growl Leafa descended to the city and headed for the meeting place. 

“Bwa ha ha ha!” Lisbeth chortled on hearing the story, the blacksmith having joined Kirito at the Inn.

“Please don't have so much fun with this,” Leafa sighed.

Kirito patted her on the arm, the black clad Spriggan looking amused. “I wonder why they didn't just put a barrier up, like they did in ALO earlier?” he wondered.

“Like how they blocked off the top of the World Tree before,” Leafa nodded thoughtfully, having watched Kirito literally bounce off that wall a couple of times.

“I guess Cardinal isn't letting us get away with short-cuts,” Liz noted. 

Before another comment could be made Asuna strode in, the attractive undine smiling at her friends warmly. “Sorry I'm late,” she apologized, “mother's staying late at work and I wanted to make sure dinner would be okay until she got back.”

“No problem,” Liz said.

Asuna and Kirito sat side by side, as usual, and Leafa firmly stomped down on any jealousy. They were a couple, and she was TOTALLY okay with that. Damn it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Silica hurried down the path towards the traveler's inn at Yggdrasil city. They COULD have met at Asuna and Kirito's house, of course, but she wasn't sure if Lux had been there yet. And honestly, having everyone crash their home all the time was a bit rude....

As she neared the inn, she slowed down as she saw two figures talking outside, one she recognized, one she didn't.

“Klein, I'm still not sure this is a good idea,” the pretty woman addressed him.

The redhead was a Salamander, like Klein, and had short, red hair. She wore a round shield strapped to her left arm, and had a one handed long sword over her shoulder. She looked capable, and gave a impression of maturity. 

“You're a solid, mid-experience adventurer,” Klein answered patiently, “and you have skills we could use, Youko.”

“Oh?” Youko looked skeptical. 

Klein shrugged, “In addition to actually being a good fighter, you've worked on healing and buff magics. Our group has maybe two members who do that at all.”

Youko snorted in amusement. “All right, I'd be willing to do that,” she admitted, “but I want the opportunity to fight, too.”

“No problem,” Klein reassured her. 

“And I reserve the right to decide this was a bad idea and leave at any time,” Youko added pointedly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Klein agreed. He looked up, “Hey, Silica! Sorry to block the way.”

Silica flushed a bit and advanced on the two of them. “Hello, Klein. Are you going on this raid too?” she asked politely. 

“Yup. Gonna be a lot of fun,” Klein agreed. He gestured to the woman beside him, “Silica, met Youko. Youko, this is Silica, a veteran gamer who you should look to for advice.”

“Klein!” Silica yelped, blushing.

Youko bit back a chuckle. “Nice to meet you,” she smiled slightly coolly. 

“Just ignore him when he says things like that,” Silica added as they headed inside.

“I already do,” Youko teased.

“Oh, here I am trying to pass on my hard earned wisdom...” Klein lamented. 

Silica kind of tuned him out as she scanned the busy inn and found the table their friends were at. “Hey, everyone!” she beamed as she hurried over.

Lux beamed, the attractive blonde sitting by the equally attractive Leafa. It was really annoying how curvy both girls were, but Silica expected she'd grow out eventually. She hoped. Lisbeth waved her over, and Silica settled in beside them.

“Oh I am SO excited!” Lux said, nearly bouncing in her seat. Lux had been a real Kirito fangirl, and had even designed her first ALO avatar after him, calling herself 'Kuro.' She had gotten over that, but she clearly was nearly peeing herself with excitement being here in the same room with him. 

“Relax,” Leafa said to her with a wink, “big brother puts his pants on one leg a time, just like everyone else.”

“I know, but...” Lux shrugged helplessly.

Scannin the room Silica saw Kirito, Asuna and Leafa, Lisbeth, Lux, Klein, herself and the new woman Klein brought, Youko. Speaking of....

“Kirito, everyone, this is my kohai I was talking about,” Klein gestured to the tall-ish redheaded woman in armor, a shield strapped to her arm, 'Youko. She's new, but skilled.”

There was the oddest look on her face as she saw Asuna, but she quickly switched back to bland neutrality. “I hope we can work well together,” Youko said, smiling faintly.

“Welcome,” Kirito started, when Yui suddenly popped up, the little sprite buzzing Youko curiously. 

Silica wondered if she'd be one of the people who were startled by Yui, or just go 'She's so cute!'

“So cute!” Yoko murmured.

'Ha.' Silica smiled.

To be continued....

Notes: Will try to jump back to Youko's POV next chapter, or possibly Asuna's. Depends on what I plan to do. Sinon will turn up next chapter too, and maybe Agil.


End file.
